introducing…jquery_merb (sort of)
I love jQuery. I love Merb. I thought, so why not work on both? I tried this previously from the merb side with the now gone merb_multi_js plugin, which I had made a substantial amount of progress on before I killed it. It was designed to mimic rails and generate handy JavaScript for you not using Prototype.js, but whatever web framework you wanted (I of course had jQuery, Prototype.js, and I think YUI). Alas, I realized that because of some of its design principles, it would never be performance-friendly.
Enter jquery_merb, or jquery.merb.js.
Startling Discovery
So I have made a startling discovery -- the plastic cap on the end of your shoelaces is called an aglet.
Game ideas?
Well, another day, another quest for game ideas. An online game would be fun to make, but my problem is always I think too damn big. My last idea was a Utopia clone, and I got so far as to create a scripting language that compiled into Ruby, but I just never got around to finishing it. What would be nice is a game that's fun in its simplicity -- simple to play, simple to program, just something you spend half an hour or an hour on a day, tops. There'd be a way to interact with other people easily; there'd be chat rooms and forums, and discernible "hot spots" where a lot of people were chatting or posting messages. But the most important thing is core gameplay: unique, rewarding, and fun. I'll get right on that...
Merb tutorial resumed
It's been a retarded week at work (65 hours in 6 days) but things should be lightening up a bit from here on and so I might actually get home at a reasonable hour. In any case, I'm working more on my catch-all merb guide tutorial thing and will be filling in the self-contained sections, but decided I should put off the sample application until I write it.
Granddaddy of all merb tutorials!
It's something I've started that's totally a work-in-progress, but as of right now it gets you to the "okay I have merb installed now what" point from no ruby no nothin'. I'll try to keep working on it in the coming days, but for now check it out and let me know what you think of what I do have! Note that some stuff is deliberately "first draft" and will get replaced later.
Here.
CouchDB and logs…
I've taken it upon myself to do some log analysis at my work. This involves taking a large volume of logs (multiple gigabytes) and somehow organizing them so that the data stored within them are readily available. This is no small task. At present, there are thousands of individually gzipped files, and the best way to find what you're looking for is to essentially 'zcat *.gz | grep -in "session=123"' to get what you want and is, frankly, absurd. In some types of log files, you have 15 lines that all pertain to the same log record, with each line in the format KEY=monkeyfacevalue, and in others you have everything on the same line, with key/value pairs comma delimited. Doesn't really matter, but there are key-value pairs in both case, and no two log records necessarily have the same set of keys. This sounded like an opportunity to try out a new type of database...CouchDB.
But, in the end, I think CouchDB is not the best way to solve this problem...
spud! greasemonkey script
I've dabbled a little in Greasemonkey, but I've yet to be inspired enough to publish something I've made. Well, I'm tempted to do so now -- it's a script to alter your experience a bit with spud!'s pages.
Reading a lot
Hey all. I've had a lot of free time on my hands lately, so I've been splitting that between watching TV, reading online articles, and designing Stick Diablo (name pending). There's a lot of interesting news out there though...if you're curious about what I'm checkin' out, take a look at my shared Google Reader list, here. Hope you find something interesting!